Új parancsnok a fedélzeten

Az új StarCraft patch-hez új co-op parancsnok is jár: Egon Stetmann.

COMMANDER INTRO

As a starting point for the next Commander, the design team was determined to leverage the awesome fan-favorite Mecha Zerg skins. After a bit of deliberation on which character could possibly command the Mecha Swarm, we settled on the Hyperion’s former chief science advisor, Egon Stetmann, a character the Co-op team already has a very special relationship with. More specifically, we homed in on his maniacal and slightly paranoid Mist Opportunities persona. Creatively, we knew that Stetmann was relatively unexplored, which meant that we had a lot of freedom in terms of gameplay, lore, and character development.

This new Co-op Commander version of Stetmann explores his life after Mist Opportunities, when he spent years as a castaway marooned on a foreign planet, struggling to survive. Quite a while has passed since we last saw him, and not only has Stetmann survived—he’s thrived, having built both an army to defend his beloved Bel’Shir, and a best friend to keep him company with lively conversation.

PLAYSTYLE

Stetmann is a macro Commander who’s enhanced the potential of the Swarm with advanced Protoss technology and a healthy dose of Terran ingenuity.

All standard combat units in the Mecha Swarm use a special form of energy called Egonergy. Egonergy does not regenerate on its own; it’s restored primarily via the J.U.I.C.E. Stetzone configuration. Mecha units with Egonergy are more powerful than their standard Co-op counterparts, but without it, they become depleted husks of their former glory.

Stetmann utilizes a repurposed harvesting bot named Gary as his hero unit, who fulfills more of a support role compared to those of his heroic counterparts such as Kerrigan or Nova. While Gary is relatively weak on his own, he can act as a powerful force multiplier for Stetmann’s Mecha Swarm.

Among Stetmann’s other key features are Stetellites, which you can deploy from the top bar panel. Similar to Pylons, Stetellites provide areas of influence called Stetzones, which grant various passive bonuses to your army. You can switch between different Stetellite configurations via the top-bar, which confer different bonuses to allied units. Some keys to succeeding as Stetmann include continuously managing your Stetellite deployment and re-evaluating the optimal Stetellite configuration for the situation.

DESIGN PHILOSOPHY

Once we decided that Stetmann was the next commander, we started to hone some of his core mechanics. We wanted to leverage his penchant for researching and adapting Zerg and Protoss technology for Terran use. One of the first mechanics we decided to adapt was the iconic Zerg creep mechanic.

Stetellites and Stetzones were designed to grant the same satisfaction players receive from spreading creep—and, thereby, their influence—over the map. Stetzones are powerful enough to encourage “Stetellite spread” and the ability to change Stetzone bonuses adds another layer of complexity to the mechanic. Plus, your allies will greatly appreciate your help!

When designing different Stetzone configurations, movement speed and health regeneration immediately jumped out at us. Settling on the third Stetzone configuration was trickier, but we eventually came up with the concept of Egonergy and Egonergy/energy restoration, as it checked a few boxes, like:

• Making the player feel powerful: It was very important for us that the Stetzone mechanic provides powerful bonuses in order to encourage engagement. Egonergy/energy restoration achieves this by tying directly into Stetmann’s units’ power level.
• Creating tension when switching configurations: At the same time, we wanted to differentiate the bonuses provided as much as possible to encourage engagement with switching Stetellite configurations. Egonergy/energy restoration achieves this by alternating between powerful and inconsequential based on the situational context.
• Promoting interesting interaction with allies: Widespread energy restoration for allies is something we’ve never tried before, and we believe it’ll open up interesting, unexplored strategies for allied commanders.
• Fulfilling the fantasy: Restoring power to a robotic unit makes intuitive sense for this Commander.

Finally, Stetmann’s Mecha Zerg units draw inspiration from either Terran and Protoss technology. It’s only fitting that his Mecha Hydralisks shoot missiles or his Mecha Zerglings have a version of Hardened Shield.

TOP BAR ABILITIES

• Can unleash a traveling electrical orb that deals damage to all enemies along its path. If Gary is in a Stetzone, he unleashes three orbs instead.
• Can overcharge a Stetellite, allowing it to actively grant different bonuses to nearby units depending on the current Stetzone configuration.
• Can teleport himself and his friends to the vicinity of any Stetellite.
• Can upgrade to Super Gary, which reduces the cooldown and increases the maximum charges of all of Gary’s abilities. Also allows Gary to temporarily generate his own Stetzone.

MECHA UNITS

PROGRESSION

TIPS

• Stetellites allow you to greatly expand your influence. If you’re covering the entire map, not only will you have a powerful, permanent buff field, you’ll also be able to teleport anywhere on the map with Gary.
• Actively switch between Stetzone configurations to give the best buffs for the situation. Try to consider not only your needs, but what would help your ally as well.
• Whenever you have a free moment, deploy Stetellites!
• If you’re having trouble catching up with Stetellite production, use Super Gary’s Gary-zone ability to start a new cluster of Stetellites.
• Lower tier Mecha Zerg have smaller Egonergy pools, but also low Egonergy costs for their abilities. Recharge them quickly between bouts of combat.
• Mecha Lurkers are adept at holding positions against multiple weaker enemies. But after diligent research, Stetmann has also programmed his Mecha Lurkers to focus their attacks on more threatening enemies using the patented Focused Strike Algorithm.
• Fueled by a steady stream of J.U.I.C.E., Mecha Infestors can be a seemingly never-ending source of Mecha Roaches. Don’t forget to research the BONUS Ravager! upgrade.
• Stetmann is a firm believer in recycling. Once enough Mecha Remnants from destroyed Mecha units are collected, a new unit will appear at your base. Don’t forget about them!
• Super Gary’s “The Best Oil” ability allows him to increase his attack speed and health regeneration whenever a member of the Mecha Swarm dies in his vicinity.

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